The Cascade Rodeo
by Iniysa
Summary: Blair get's to play hero.


The Cascade Rodeo  
By Lauren Freeman  
  
  
Disclaimer: The Sentinel is not mine. It belongs to the great  
people of Pets Fly, and UPN. No money was made off this  
paper, just a grade.   
  
  
Warnings: None, just some times when Jim is very sad. And  
lots of smarm thrown in for good measure.   
  
Email address: Blairsgirl47@hotmail.com  
  
Rating: G  
  
Status: new, complete  
  
Date: 3-4-99   
  
Archive: yes  
  
Series/Sequel: Nope  
  
Summary: Jim and Blair go to a rodeo, needless to say, bad  
luck strikes again for our heroes. NOT A DEATH STORY!   
  
` ` - means thoughts  
  
  
'The Sentinel'  
The Cascade Rodeo  
By: Lauren Freeman  
  
  
Blair looked at the dappled car that pulled up behind him. "Wow" he said  
with a smile, the annual Cascade Rodeo had a new car to show off. The Cascade  
Rodeo was truly a copious event. Jim who was sitting in the passenger?s seat of  
Blair's car looked at the car too.  
  
"Oh neat! You are going to the rodeo this year right, Blair?"  
  
"Yep I would't miss it!" Blair, said with a bounce. "The rodeo is truly a perennial  
event!"  
  
"Please Blair spare me roots." Jim said with a laugh. Blair closed his mouth but  
kept a little bounce going.   
  
"So man I'm off all this week, Are you off anytime this week?" Blair asked as he  
pulled out of the Cascade National Bank's parking lot, and onto the main  
highway.  
  
"Umm tomorrow actually"   
  
"Cool, so you want to go to the rodeo tomorrow?"  
  
"Why not?!"  
  
*The Next Day*  
  
Blair and Jim sat in line in the middle of the road in Jim's truck, waiting for their  
turn to pay the toll to go over the Cascade Bridge. Finally after 15 minutes of  
waiting they were through and on their way towards the rodeo. Once at the rodeo  
Blair declared that he wanted to see everything! Jim just moaned and kept  
walking. A warbling song was playing somewhere in the park. After waiting in  
another long line to get in they headed off to find 'The Famous Tree of the 1999  
Cascade Rodeo. Every year they would randomly choose a tree and then declare  
it famous. "Geez this tree is big!" Blair said as he looked up the sprig of the tree.   
  
"Not that big, Chief. I have seen alot bigger trees in Pure." Jim said with a smile.  
Blair smacked him in the stomach.  
  
"Yeah, well if I was trapped in Peru; solitary for 18 months, I would too." Blair  
snapped back.  
  
Next they came to the Sailors verses Cowboys dirge / warbling contest.   
  
"Blair, can we please bypass this?It's already giving me a headache." Jim asked  
politely.  
  
"Yeah, sure man, no problem." Blair said as he dragged Jim off to the next area.  
Blair stopped at a lustrous cowboy saddle.   
  
"It's a saddle, Chief." Jim said before Blair could say anything.   
  
"Boy you're no fun Jim!" Blair laughed. "Fine, then let's go look at that fathom  
rope."  
  
"It's a rope, Chief" Jim claimed sarcastically.   
  
"No duh, Jim!" They walked on. The next area smelled of lilac and had a beautiful  
panorama of cowboys in the Cascade snow. "Ahhh, finally a picture that really  
symbolizes Cascade." Jim could only laugh at that statement. "Umm Jim? I have  
to use the restroom" Blair said.  
  
Jim used his enhanced vision to find the restroom. "The nearest restroom is way  
over there by the ferris wheel," Jim said as he pointed straight ahead. Blair just  
smiled as he started walking towards the bathroom. " I'll wait for you here Chief.?  
he said as he walked into the next area. The Adornment room Jim walked into  
was also air conditioned, and Jim gladly sat down on one of the couches while he  
waited for his partner to return. He looked at all of the pictures hanging on the  
wall, and the colorful furniture around the large room. He could not help but think  
that the name of the room really fit it's title. Around 15 minutes later, Jim was  
starting to get worried. He got up and walked towards the bathroom piggy  
backing his enhanced seeing and hearing. He saw nothing, nor heard nothing.  
Jim desperately listened for the familiar heart beat. He would have zoned if he  
had not have found it moving towards the gates leading out.  
  
"Let me go!" Jim heard Blair cry out  
  
"Shut him up, Murray."   
  
"Listen man, if you don't shut up I am going to shoot you." Blair got quiet.  
  
Jim listened to this conversation as he ran towards the voices and pushed the  
auto dial on his cell phone to the police station.  
  
"Major Crimes Precinct 2, how may I help you?"  
  
"Yes, this is Detective Jim Ellison. Let me speak to Captain Simon Banks  
immediately." Less than a second later, Simon came over the telephone.   
  
"Jim, what?s wrong?" Simon asked, knowing that the only reason Jim would call  
on a day off was because someone was in trouble, usually Sandburg.   
  
"We have a hostage situation, Simon. A guy by the name of Murray and someone  
else have taken Sandburg."  
  
"Okay Jim, where are you?"   
  
"Rodeo, Sir."   
  
"Okay. I am on my way down. Jim, don't get cocky."  
  
"Yes Sir." Jim hung up the telephone. Blair and the two men were now in sight.  
Jim, being the unfaltering man that he was, hid and slowly pulled out his gun.  
They were taking Blair into a small restaurant just outside the rodeo's fence. The  
man that was holding Blair had blonde hair and was slightly tanned. The other  
man, who held a suitcase, had very pale skin, as if he did not get out much. Jim  
listened to them yell at everyone inside to get down on the ground or they would  
shoot all of them. Jim wanted to go in there so badly but he had to go by the  
books on this one, so he just clenched his jaw. Simon walked up behind Jim and  
patted him on the back.  
  
"You?re a indolent man Jim, never forget that."   
  
"What?"  
  
"Just checking to see if you were paying attention to me at all." Jim just looked at  
his Captain and then looked back into the restaurant.  
  
"The man they are calling Murray, is taking something out of his briefcase, Sir."  
  
"What? Can you tell what it is?"  
  
"Yeah, hold on a sec. Let me see. Oh my God!"  
  
"What?!? What is it Jim?"  
  
"A bomb, Sir."  
  
"A what?"   
  
"A bomb, Sir"   
  
"Yeah I heard you the first time, Jim. Can you tell what kind it is?"  
  
"Umm, several C-4 hooked to a timer set to go off in 15 minutes.Sir." Jim said  
with a frown.  
  
"Shoot!" Simon said as he pulled out his two-way radio and got ready to call in the  
former bomb squad Captain, Joel Taggert, since the new one was out of town.  
"This is Captain Simon Banks. I want Detective Taggert here ASAP. We have a  
bomb situation." Two minutes later, Joel came to their hiding place with a  
suitcase.   
  
"What do we have Captain?" Joel asked  
  
"We have a myriad of people being held hostage. There is also a bomb in there,  
set to go off in around twelve minutes."  
  
"How do you know that? And where is your partner Jim?" Joel asked, just now  
noticing Blair's absence.   
  
"Don't worry about how we know Joel. And take a wild guess where my partner  
is!" Jim almost yelled, but was able to control himself and said it in a harsh  
whisper.  
  
"Oh. Sorry Jim." Joel said, backing away. "Okay then let's go retrieve your  
partner."   
  
"Okay Men, we have less than five minutes now to get in there, stop the bad  
guys, and disable a bomb."   
  
"No Sir, we don't. These guys are doing this so that everyone will know their  
names. You know. Two bad guys take man hostage. Drags him to building with at  
least ten people in it, then sets off a bomb. Therefore, they are setting the timer to  
one minute. God, let me go in there Simon! I can't just stand here and watch my  
partner die!"  
  
_______________________________  
  
(Inside the restaurant)  
  
As they pulled out the bomb Blair's heart was going a hundred miles a minute .  
'Oh God! Oh God! Jim where are you?!'   
  
"Murray, come and change the time on this clock to one minute."   
  
"Yes Sir," Murray said as he started carefully taking the bomb apart.   
  
"Why are you doing this?" Blair finally spoke up.   
  
"Well, it's simple really. We are tired of being "nobodys". We want to be  
"somebodys". So, we decided to blow a place up near the rodeo, and then you  
came along and well, a whole new plan came up when I saw you coming back  
from the bathroom. Why not add kidnapping to it. You know, the more the  
merrier!" the pale guy said with an evil smile.   
  
"Hey man, I need your help over here," Murray claimed. As soon as both of the  
bad guys back's were turned twords Blair, silently got up and waved for everyone  
to get up and quietly walk out of the room. They got out of the building and  
started running as fast as they could for shelter. Meanwhile, Jim had turned down  
his hearing and had turned away, not wanting to hear or see what was about to  
happen. Simon, seeing that there was nothing for them to do, sadly sent Joel  
back to his car. The bomb went off. When things got quiet, Jim turned towards  
the debris that littered the ground. The smell of burnt flesh filled his nose and he  
quickly turned down his sensory dial.   
  
"Oh the Woe in your eyes" Simon said with a smile. Jim got furious. His partner  
had just been blown to pieces and Simon was smiling?! He was about to start  
yelling, but Simon stopped him with his hand. "Jim, listen for your partner's  
heartbeat."   
  
"What?"  
  
"Just do it, Jim." Jim really did not want to do this, but he did anyway. He let out a  
startled cry when he heard the familiar beat. It was so close! Jim slowly turned  
towards the sound of his guide?s heartbeat and was surprised to come face to  
face with him. Jim touched Blair's shoulder to see if he was real, then surprised  
everyone by hugging him in a huge bear hug.  
  
"Umm Jim, man, I can't breath." Jim reluctantly pulled away  
with a big smile on his face.   
  
"I want a full report on my desk by tomorrow evening," Simon said with an even  
bigger smile. "You kids go home and get some rest."   
  
"Yes Sir." Both Blair and Jim said at the same time. They gave their Captain a  
playful salute, and walked away.  
  
"So how did you get out of there, Chief?"  
  
The End  
  
  
- Joey Freeman   
  



End file.
